Two for One on DIYs!

 

From this.................To this!

Last week, my mom and I went thrifting in Ventura, and I got a couple of skirts to repurpose. I've been wanting a cool plaid skirt for a while now, so when I saw this one for $15 at Buffalo Exchange, I was pretty excited. Except, it was at kind of an unflattering length. Usually, I can totally rock an ankle length or knee length skirt, but it can look kind of funky with something like plaid. So, I hemmed in up, and used the extra fabric for some suspenders. Below is the tutorial. It's not exactly step-by, but it should at least be helpful if you're looking to do the same to a skirt of your own. If you see something that I suggest and it's just completely wrong, feel free to comment or something and let me know, and then you could help out me, or anyone else who tries this! :)

I also have a tutorial for my skeleton shirt, but I'll explain that further down.

Hemming tutorial:

Supplies:

-A too-long skirt

-Scissors

-Pins

-A sewing machine (not supper necessary, but helpful)

First, I put on the skirt, and figured out how long I wanted it to be, and laid it out flat, and figured out where I would need to cut it.

Then, I started cutting it in a line, following a chosen line in the pattern, cutting one layer at a time to keep it nice and straight.

Because it ends up pretty frayed at the end, you need to actually hem it then.

I turned the skirt inside out, and folded the fabric in by about and inch all around, and pinned it. Sorry, I don't know how much detail to give in this, so sorry if you already completely know how to do all of this. If so, you can just skip forward.

Then, I just sewed along the bottom.

The skirt ended up like this, but that seemed kind of boring, and I had so much fabric left over, I figured I'd make some suspenders!

Unfortunately, I don't really have any pictures of this, but I cut the fabric into two strips, and folded them each in half. Then, I pinned them on the edge, and sewed along the edge. Then, I just flipped them inside out. Then, my mom helped me attach them to the skirt. (Sorry for the terrible description)

 And you should end up with something akin to this:

And for the shirt!
I was inspired by Kate Nash's skeleton shirt, and found a similar one on Hot Topic

Skeletal shirt:
Supplies:
-An old or new T-shirt, best with a darker color
-A piece of chalk
-White fabric paint
-A paint brush

I looked at the pictures of the shirts, and used a piece of chalk to lightly sketch out the shape of the hands. It was nice because if I messed up, I could easily just wipe it off and start over.
*Note: Make sure to try on your shirt before you paint it, to make sure on the placement of the hands. Unless you want it to look like you're being felt up by a skeleton, make sure they're up high. But, if you want it to look like that, then go ahead, I salute you!

Then, I used the paint, and filled out the outline with the white.

Once that dried, I did a second layer.

Then, all you have to do is let it all dry and run it through the wash!

Outfit Details:

Shirt- DIY

Skirt- DIY

Tights- #Anthropology

Boots- (knock off) Doc Martins

I certainly got a variety of comments on my outfit today. They ranged from simply "Who died?" to "She's Edward! Edward Cullen!", both from a group of rather douchey teenage boys. I'll admit my outfit was slightly goth today, but seriously? What connects me to Edward Cullen? He is a sparkly, fictional vampire, not a teenage girl with skeletons on her boobs. I have no problem with people making comments on my outfits, as long as they are clever, or at least relevant. I was just standing there thinking, "Really? That was the best comment you could possibly come up with?" Has anyone else ever experienced this strange brand of disappointment at their witless peers?

On another note, I was playing around with making my own Riot Grrrl zines. I've just made one so far, but I think it's kind of cool. I took points and quotes from some of my favorite zines, and combined them into my own. I cut out faces from magazines, looking for girls with good bitch faces, or just who looked interesting. Then, I drew stars over their eyes, because, for some reason, I keep doodling girls with stars instead of eyes. I don't know, but I think it looks interesting.

I hope you're all having a glitterific day!

Love,

Chloe